Becoming a Skinny Legend with Claire: Week One

Introduction

Hello and welcome to: Becoming a Skinny Legend with Claire! Please join me on my endeavor to lose the quarantine 15 (okay more like 20), as I try a new form of workout/class each week. I will be attending each workout twice during the week, describing the experience, and rating them on four key criteria: calories burned, quality of the workout, fun, and whether I will go again. I will be announcing what I will be doing the following week with each post, so feel free to follow along with me and compare your thoughts!

This week I decided to try OrangeTheory. I’ll admit, I was definitely intimidated by this one due to its cult-like following and high intensity reputation. However, I felt it was best to start off strong! According to the official website for OrangeTheory, “OrangeTheory is a 1 hour, full body workout, focused on training Endurance, Strength and/or Power. We use Heart Rate Based Interval Training, which burns more calories post workout than a traditional exercise.” They base their classes on achieving an optimal heart rate for calorie burn.

Experience

When I walked in, I was instantly greeted with bumping music and a cheery, “Hi!” from the woman at the front desk. The studio was in good condition, and no orange colored decal was spared. The workout began on a treadmill, and the screen had different speed range suggestions for different actions: “base” (4-5 mph), “push” (5-6 mph), and “all out” (7-8 mph). The first eighteen minutes of the workout were completely on the treadmill, with the trainer enthusiastically calling out which ranges you should be in. A benefit of OrangeTheory is you can push yourself as much or as little as you want, as you are in control of the speed/intensity, and the trainer offers suggestions rather than orders. The next eighteen minutes were spent on the rower, with the final eighteen minutes on the floor following a series of strength exercises that were displayed on a screen. It is worth noting that you can choose to reverse this order as well, starting on the floor rather than treadmill.

Criteria

Calories Burned: I burned an average of 389 calories throughout the workouts. It is difficult because I do not have other workouts to compare this to yet, but based on my prior knowledge, I see this as extremely solid. Furthermore, due to the nature of the workout, it is possible to burn more if you push yourself harder.

Quality of the Workout: I included this criteria because it is important to recognize that calories burned don’t always mean a quality workout. I personally appreciated the cardio aspect for the calorie burn, and also the strength component to improve the quality. I felt like I was building muscle, which is important to me, rather than simply burning calories. One difficulty I had was understanding each new task at first, but a trainer was happy to guide me in the correct direction. Furthermore, I have a fractured lower back, and when one of the exercises bothered it, the trainer was happy to provide me with a lower intensity alternative. I greatly appreciated it because even though I was in a large class, I still received one-on-one attention.

Fun: For me personally, I hate working out, so the fun factor is important to me. OrangeTheory prides itself on having upbeat instructors, as well as having the opportunity to display your workout on the board and compete with other individuals in the class. I personally am not that competitive, so I opted out of this, but I did enjoy the loud throwback music and bubbly, encouraging instructor. Although I found OrangeTheory taxing, these aspects of the class motivated me through it. I also went with a friend, which added to the fun as well.

Would I go again? I’ll be honest, it is such a difficult workout that I couldn’t see myself going all the time, but I would definitely go again. I do have friends that religiously go four times per week, and I know that will not be me. However, I did truly enjoy the class and felt as though I achieved a successful workout. Would definitely recommend!

Looking Forward

Next week I will be trying boxing! I have been meaning to see what all the hype is about, as I’ve seen countless models swear by the benefits of boxing. Stay tuned!